English Dub Review: Berserk: The Golden Age Arc – Memorial Edition “The Eclipse”

Overview:

Griffith is fed up with being a broken shell of a man, so he sets off on his own. The Hawks are in for a strange surprise when they find him.

Our Take:

Casca is having a hard time coming to terms with Griffith’s present state. She tells Guts that she can’t go with him. Guts decides that he wants to stay as well, but Casca tells him that he has to go. Griffith overhears their conversation and somehow manages to drive his carriage with his mouth and sets off on his own. Naturally, Guts and the others soon follow.

Griffith only makes it so far before he loses control of his carriage and gets thrown clear. He looks like he’s ready to give up and just end it all, but then he finds his Behelit necklace. Right after that, Guts and the others find Griffith. When Griffith’s blood touch the pendant, when Guts touches Griffith, when the moon eclipses the sun, things get weird.

The landscape completely changes and a bunch of giant devils suddenly appear. They believe Griffith is one of them and they expect him to sacrifice the Hawks and join them. It looks like he’s trying to save Guts from falling to his doom, but his arm gives out. Guts manages to save himself, but he has no idea what’s going on and neither do I.

This episode is kind of interesting, but it also isn’t as impactful as I thought it might be. The animation in the latter portion of the episode is off-putting. I feel like it’s supposed to be given the devils’ appearances, but I still don’t care for it.

As for the plot, it makes sense. Griffith is tired of not being able to do anything anymore. It makes sense as to why he would run away and seemingly want to end his life. Finding his necklace makes him change his mind and I’m sure I know what happens next.

That being said, the build up to that feels okay. Not boring, but not awfully exciting either. This episode does a fine enough job of getting us to that point, which I’m sure will be interesting based on what little I know of the original series.